Tag Archive for BPR

The second year of the BPR Series saw more victories for the McLaren F1 GTR, this time GTC Competition would not throw the title away. From the outset, Ray Bellm and James Weaver were on the pace. On a chilly, crisp day at Paul Ricard during the opening round they had the measure of the field, even the Ferrari F40 GTE.

1995 and one of McLaren’s golden years. Winning the Le Mans 24 Hours at the first attempt and trouncing the opposition in the BPR Global GT Endurance Series with their fabulous McLaren F1 GTR. OK they had a crap season in F1, but regular readers (both of you) will know that such matters are regarded as a mere trifle on this blog.

In the run up to La Sarthe the pack headed to Donington and once again it was a McLaren fest. The above GTC Competition example did not fare so well as the others, being delayed with a broken gear linkage and so relegated Championship contenders Ray Bellm and Maurizio Sandro Sala to 15th place, out of the points. A rare slip from Woking’s finest.

One of my young colleagues, Brecht, posted a comment on his facebook page about how cool the Ferrari F40 LM was back in BPR days…………on the money says I.

So here at Le Castellet, March 1996, Pole Sitter Jean-Marc Gounon blasts off with Anders Olofsson alongside and a brace of McLarens in the hands of Fabien Giroix and James Weaver giving chase. Weaver and Ray Bellm would win the contest after 4 hours of hard racing on their way to the 96 Titles. Just look at the size of that grid…………………

BPR for those two brief seasons was absolutely brilliant, a real high point of GT Racing…………then came the Porsche 911 GT1…….taking a gun to a knife fight………..and paradise was lost.